US embassy ups visa fees
THE United States Embassy in Zambia has increased non-immigrant visa application fees from US$100 to US$131.

USA Embassy public affairs officer, Christopher Wurst, said in Lusaka yesterday that the new fees are effective January 1, 2008.

He said payments made after January 1, 2008, regardless of the interview date, should be in full.

Mr Wurst said the increase was necessary because of inflation, the new security related costs and new information technology systems.

“The US$100 fee was already lower than the cost of processing non-immigrant visas.

The department has been absorbing additional costs.

We are now collecting 10 finger prints from each applicant and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s charges for review of those fingerprints no longer allow us to do this,” he said.

Mr Wurst said the non-immigrant visa fees have only been increased twice since the September 11, 2001 terror attacks on the USA.

He said since that time, there had been many security enhancements, such as the collection of biometrics as required by the US Congress.

[Daily Mail]